Slaughterhouse Rock (1988)
** (out of 4)
Alex Gardner (Nicholas Celozzi) is suffering from non-stop nightmares where he sees himself being ripped apart by demons. He and five friends end up visiting Alcatraz and sure enough he begins to see things that make him think his dreams were warning him of something.
SLAUGHTERHOUSE ROCK is a rather strange film to say the least. If you take it too literal then you're head will probably pop off. If you don't take it too serious then you're going to be basically watching something that seems to have been influenced by Lamberto Bava's DEMONS but without any sort of logic. I'm really not sure what the producers were trying to do with this picture but it's certainly one of the craziest out there and did I mention the soundtrack was done by DEVO?
As far as the film goes, it really doesn't make any sense. I've read countless reviews where people talk about the plot but who knows what's really going on. I say that because the first thirty-minutes are full of scenes that turn out to be dream sequences and even when the kids get to the island there's really not much of a clue as to what's going on. Before you know it the dreams turn into a reality and we get some blood and gore.
This here was released after the genre was pretty much on life support but I give the filmmakers credit for delivering not only the nudity but also the gore. There are some pretty gory scenes to be had here including several where people are either ripped open or have their throats torn open. The practical effects actually look very good as does the make-up design on the demons. Is all of these stuff and the rock music as good as DEMONS? No way.
Again, if you're wanting logic and brains in your horror movies then it's best that you stay far away from this one. There's no question that this here is a highly flawed movie but at the same time it has an approach that at least shows the filmmakers were wanting to deliver something horror fans would like.